Numbered theater chair seats



1963 M. E. KORNBLUTH 3,116,090

NUMBERED THEATER CHAIR SEATS Filed Oct. 5, 1959 WITNESS BY MM Ala/W 8.B/wunu ATTORNEY United States Q tet 3,116,090 NUIVEBERED THEATER CHAIRSEATS Martin E. Kornbluth, New York, N.Y., assignor to American SeatingCompany, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 5,1959, Ser. No. 844,318 7 Claims. (Cl. 297-217) The present inventionrelates to chairs, and more particularly to seating of the typeinstalled in theaters, auditoriums and the like.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide novel means fornumbering seats in rows in theaters and the like, and to provide suchnovel numbering means which is both economical and attractive.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a theater-type chair in which isincorporated the new numbering means;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of part of thechair seats sheet metal foundation or pan with the new numbering deviceincorporated therein;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of part of a row of theater-typechairs with the new numbering means incorporated therein.

Referring now in detail to this drawing, the theater chair shown inFIGURES 1 and 2 generally comprises spaced, upright, chair-supportingstandards 10, a chair back L1 mounted on and between the standards 10,and a chair seat 12 pivotally mounted on and between said standards forswinging movement between a lowered, generally horizontal position foroccupancy as seen in dotted lines in FIGURE 2 and a forwardly-upwardlytilted position of non-use as seen in full lines in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

The chair seat 12 comprises a sheet metal seat foundation having abottom 13 and an upstanding front wall 14, side walls 15 and a rear wall16. An upholstered seat cushion .1-8 is mounted on the seat foundation.In the center of the seat foundations front wall 14 there is provided adepressed area 19. A numeral-bearing sheet metal plate or tag isdisposed in the depressed area 19 and is secured to the seat foundationas by means of rivets 21 passing through aligned apertures in the tagand in the front wall =14 of the seat foundation. Alternately the tag 19could be spot-welded to the seat foundation.

It will be seen that when the unoccupied chair seat 12 is tiltedupwardly to its non-use position the seat foundations front wall 14faces upwardly and the numeralbearing tag 20 is clearly visible to aperson standing in front of the chair. Preferably the chair seat 12 ismounted on the standards 10 by means of self-raising seat hingesindicated diagrammatically at 22 in FIGURE 2. Such a self-raising seathinge is disclosed in Patent No. 2,582,- 599 issued January 15, 1952 toW. E. Nordmark and by him assigned to the assignee of this application.By employing such a self-raising seat hinge, all unoccupied seats in atheater are automatically tilted upwardly to non-use position so thatthe numeral-bearing tags 19 can be plainly seen.

In FIGURE 5 there is illustrated part of a row of connected seating inwhich the numeral-bearing tags 19 on the chair seats 18 are sequentiallynumbered so as to indicate the position of each seat in the row. Whilenumerals are the most commonly used form of marking it will beunderstood that other indicia such as letters of the alphabet or thenames of individuals might be used on the tags 19.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a novel, economical andattractive means for numbering the seats in rows of theater seating, andwhile but one specific embodiment of the invention has been shown in thedrawing it will be understood that details thereof may be altered oromitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined bythe following claims.

I claim:

1. In a chair: spaced upright chair-supporting standards; a chair seatpivotally mounted on and between said standards for swinging movementbetween a lowered, generally horizontal position for occupancy and aforwardly-upwardly tilted position of non-use means for automaticallytilting the chair seat upwardly to its non-use position when unoccupied;and chair-identifying indicia on the front edge of the chair seatwhereby when the seat is in its automatically forwardly-upwardly tiltednonuse position said indicia faces upwardly and is clearly visible to aperson standing in front of the chair.

2. In a chair: spaced upright chair-supporting standards; a chair seatpivotally mounted on and between said standards for swinging movementbetween a lowered, generally horizontal position for occupancy and aforwardly-upwardly tilted position of non-use, said chair seat having asheet metal foundation provided with a front wall which faces upwardlyin the forwardly-upwardly tilted position of the seat; a numeral-bearingchair-identitying metal tag secured to said front Wall of the seatfoundation; and means for automatically tilting the chair seat upwardlyto its non-use position when unoccupied.

3. A chair according to claim 2 in which the metal tag is seated in adepressed area in the front wall of the seat foundation.

4. In a chair: spaced upright chair-supporting stand ards; a chair seatpivotally mounted on and between said standards for swinging movementbetween a lowered, generally horizontal position for occupancy and aforwardly-upwardly tilted position of non-use, said chair seat having anupholstered cushion mounted on a sheet metal foundation provided with abottom and upstanding front, side and rear walls, said front wall facingupwardly in the forwardly-upwardly tilted position of the seat andhaving a depressed area therein; and a numeral-bearing metal tagdisposed in said depressed area and riveted to the metal of saidfoundations front wall.

5. A chair according to claim 4 including means for automaticallytilting the chair seat upwardly to its nonuse position when unoccupied.

6. A chair according to claim 4 in which said depressed area is in thecenter of the foundations front wall.

7. A row of chairs each according to claim 6 in which the metal tags onthe chairs are sequentially numbered to indicate each chairs position inthe row.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,420,059 Roth June 20, 1922 1,517,718 Feldner Dec. 2, 1924 1,739,971Kent Dec. 17, 1929 2,621,709 Bell Dec. 1-6, 1952 2,635,681 Hiltman Apr.21, 1953 2,711,786 Weiss June 28, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 439,312 GermanyIan. 8, 1927 3,116,090.111a1"tin E. Kombluth, New York, N.Y. NUMBEREDTHEATER CHAIR SEATS. Patent dated Dec. 31, 1963. Disclaimer filed Aug.18, 1964, by the assignee, American Seating Oompomy. Hereby enters thisdisclaimer to claims 1 and 2 of said patent.

[Oficz'al Gazette November 17, 1964.]

4. IN A CHAIR: SPACED UPRIGHT CHAIR-SUPPORTING STANDARDS; A CHAIR SEATPIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON AND BETWEEN SAID STANDARDS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENTBETWEEN A LOWERED, GENERALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION FOR OCCUPANCY AND AFORWARDLY-UPWARDLY TILTED POSITION OF NON-USE, SAID CHAIR SEAT HAVING ANUPHOLSTERED CUSHION MOUNTED ON A SHEET METAL FOUNDATION PROVIDED WITH ABOTTOM AND UPSTANDING FRONT, SIDE AND REAR WALLS, SAID FRONT WALL FACINGUPWARDLY IN THE FORWARDLY-UPWARDLY TILTED POSITION OF THE SEAT ANDHAVING A DEPRESSED AREA THEREIN; AND A NUMERAL-BEARING METAL TAGDISPOSED IN SAID DEPRESSED AREA AND RIVETED TO THE METAL OF SAIDFOUNDATION''S FRONT WALL.